A few days ago in Portland, Oregon, when Ramadan was freshly underway, a man on the MAX (Portland's light-rail) began ranting loudly and hatefully about various racial and religious groups. Much of his rant was directed at a couple of young women, one wearing a hijab, who were also passengers. As the ranter ramped up his vitriol, several other passengers began to attempt to deescalate him. (I don't know exactly what methods or words were used.) The ranter then pulled out a knife and, from what I hear, began slashing the interveners, fatally slicing two of them through the throat and also injuring (seriously but not lethally) a third. The young women got off the train and fled, and police arrived and with the help of eyewitnesses were able to track and arrest the ranter, who urged them to shoot him as he was being apprehended. The man apprehended, 35-year-old Jeremy Christian, has a long history as a public ranter of hate speech. I wish he had a different surname.

An Episcopal friend of mine posted this eulogy on Facebook:

Last night, as the Holy Month of Ramadan began in Portland, Oregon, three brave men stepped in to stop the harassment of a Muslim girl and her friend who were traveling together on a MAX train. The harasser then turned violent and stabbed the three, killing two and injury the other. Taliesin Namkai-Meche (23) and Ricky Best (53) lost their lives trying to save others. Micah Fletcher (21) remains hospitalized from wounds he suffered.In the Quran, it is written that when one acts to save the life of another it as if he saved the lives of all humanity. May the names of Taliesin and Ricky be written among the righteous of all ages. Their deeds remind us that love overcomes hate and brings light to the darkness of fear and distrust.During Ramadan, it is said that hell is closed, the devils are chained, and the gates of heaven are opened. I join those who pray that Taliesin and Ricky are greeted at those gates and welcomed among the saints. I pray too for the strength of Micah and the two young women he helped save. May their witness restore our faith in humanity and unite us against hatred, mistrust, and violence.

I saw a news report with interviews of one of the women. What a terrifying experience. They had planned to just get off the train at the next stop when the guy pulled the knife and started slashing the guys who were protecting them. From what I saw, other than his last name, he doesn't appear to be associated with a church.

It's hard to tell whether he's set off because he's bipolar or oppositionally defiant, or whether he is genuinely an extremist right winger and white supremacist. In the news photos and videos, he always seems to look distracted and unfocused. I wouldn't think a nihilist would distinguish between liberalism and conservatism.

I find this story very disturbing on many levels. The first is that Mr. Christian began accosting people who had made no contact with him. He was looking for a fight. Second, if he is mentally disturbed, he is part of the growing group of people who are in "community treatment" which often means that they need much more intensive therapy but are not offered that. Again, it reflects our philosophy that medical care is not a right and that your privacy rights not to seek treatment are more important than society's protection. Third, the fact that he has not been charged with a federal hate crime says that the DOJ is not taking up for the people who may be injured by such individuals from the Alt-Right. We need to come to some way to deal with such individuals, but society does not want to address this cancer.

"God will never be less than He is and does not need to be more" (John Koessler)

It's hard to tell whether he's set off because he's bipolar or oppositionally defiant, or whether he is genuinely an extremist right winger and white supremacist.

Really? It has been reported he was a Bernie supporter. I didn't know Bernie attracted the extremist right winger and white supremacist type.

Learn something new everyday.

But it is not new that you would blame the right.

A Bernie supporter? Where'd that come from? Sounds like one of those extremist right wing nut job fake news sites like Newsmax or World Net Daily or Breitbart. There's only one political philosophy that spews hatred against Muslims, and it's not from Bernie supporters.

It's hard to tell whether he's set off because he's bipolar or oppositionally defiant, or whether he is genuinely an extremist right winger and white supremacist.

Really? It has been reported he was a Bernie supporter. I didn't know Bernie attracted the extremist right winger and white supremacist type.

Learn something new everyday.

But it is not new that you would blame the right.

A Bernie supporter? Where'd that come from? Sounds like one of those extremist right wing nut job fake news sites like Newsmax or World Net Daily or Breitbart. There's only one political philosophy that spews hatred against Muslims, and it's not from Bernie supporters.

Sandy, apparently he was a Sanders/Stein supporter, did not vote for Trump and was a Hillary hater. Read here about 1/2 through a long litany of Facebook posts.

Well, I'm back to the guy being a complete and total cracked-up nut job. He was supposedly for Sanders/Stein but he hates Jews more than any other race or religion. I wonder if anyone told him. He abstained from voting, but vehemently hated and advocated for Sanders supporters to murder Clinton. All we get about Trump is that at some point, he decided not to vote for him. He almost completely cracks up over circumcision, which he calls "baby mutilation," which makes me wonder if he somehow remembers his own.

And if you're on the right, you're OK with this guy being able to get a gun.

It's hard to tell whether he's set off because he's bipolar or oppositionally defiant, or whether he is genuinely an extremist right winger and white supremacist.

Really? It has been reported he was a Bernie supporter. I didn't know Bernie attracted the extremist right winger and white supremacist type.

Learn something new everyday.

But it is not new that you would blame the right.

A Bernie supporter? Where'd that come from? Sounds like one of those extremist right wing nut job fake news sites like Newsmax or World Net Daily or Breitbart. There's only one political philosophy that spews hatred against Muslims, and it's not from Bernie supporters.

Now I am assured you are not as informed as you want others to believe you are.

Sandy wrote:And if you're on the right, you're OK with this guy being able to get a gun.

Nut job is right. Who supports those with mental illness should own a gun?

Another ill-informed talking point.

I believe the NRA has opposed any kind of restrictions on gun ownership. Because of their advocacy, prior to this incident, this guy could have walked into a gun show, and come out with just about anything he wanted.

Sandy wrote:And if you're on the right, you're OK with this guy being able to get a gun.

Nut job is right. Who supports those with mental illness should own a gun?

Another ill-informed talking point.

I believe the NRA has opposed any kind of restrictions on gun ownership. Because of their advocacy, prior to this incident, this guy could have walked into a gun show, and come out with just about anything he wanted.

You believe wrong. The NRA wants due process in determining the mental illness. What was being done was veterans were being called mentally ill if they had to have help in their financial affairs.

Nope. Fact is, this guy, prior to this incident, could have walked into a gun show and come out in a few minutes with just about anything, and that is due to the NRA's influence. What you've cited is a proposed bill, which will wind up as a rider on some other piece of legislation that won't go anywhere. And they'll be just fine with that.

Sandy wrote:Nope. Fact is, this guy, prior to this incident, could have walked into a gun show and come out in a few minutes with just about anything, and that is due to the NRA's influence. What you've cited is a proposed bill, which will wind up as a rider on some other piece of legislation that won't go anywhere. And they'll be just fine with that.

Interesting that I am showing what is happening with NRA support and you are speculating on what could happen if this man went to a gun show.

Can you show us where a mentally ill person did what you say they could?

You are showing a proposed bill. Means zilch. Point me to a law that prohibits individuals like this nutjob from walking into a gun show and coming out with pretty much whatever he wanted. Rhetorical question. You can't. It doesn't exist.